Ever since I realised we were going to be in London for this famous carnival I’ve been looking forward to today. Felicity has been to a real carnival in Trinadad, so she was excited too. It turned out to be quite different than what either of us expected.Continue reading Notting Hill Carnival

When we visited Erin Pizzey on Thursday, I mentioned the fact that we hadn’t seen much sign of real poverty in London. She suggested we go to Brixton, so we set off this morning, on the assumption that most of the really bad, dangerous people would probably not be out of bed yet.Continue reading Brixton

Today Felicity and I travelled to Twikenham to visit Erin Pizzey, who is one of our heroines for her groundbreaking work on Domestic Violence. We arrived half an hour early, so went for a stroll around nearby York House.

I caught the train out to Stratford at 10 o’clock this morning, which is the earliest I am allowed to take my bike. I arrived at a very modern Westfield shopping mall, and set about finding the greenway marked on the map.Continue reading Stratford to London

Felicity had meetings organised for today, so I took my bike on the London Overground train as far north as I could get on my Oyster Card, which was Watford High St. As soon as I came out of the station I saw a National Cycleway sign pointing north to St Albans, a bit over seven miles away.Continue reading St Albans to London

This weekend a large section of central London is closed for a big cycling event. I was too late to register for the 100km race tomorrow, but the free 10km family ride sounded like fun. They are expecting around 50,000 riders, making it one of the biggest ever mass bike rides.Continue reading Ride London Freecycle

The heatwave was back with a vengeance today, with over 34º recorded in London; the hottest day of the year so far. Both Felicity and I had some work to do, but late morning we headed out to be dutiful tourists.Continue reading Kew Gardens

I’ve bought myself a mountain bike, and today I went for my first serious ride. I rode it home from Camden on Monday, but that was only 40 minutes, partly along the Regent’s canal towpath, but mostly along the road.Continue reading Hampstead Heath

The area around Whitechapel is where immigrants to London often settle, probably because it has traditionally been one of the cheaper (ie: slum) areas to live. We started walking at Aldgate, where the Roman road to Colchester passed through the city wall.Continue reading East End London

I’ve been on my first English bike ride today; along the tow path of the Grand Union Canal. I have been a bit ambivalent about buying a bike, because the roads around West Hampstead are very narrow and busy, which is not my idea of a great riding environment. So I decided to try hiring a “Boris bike”.Continue reading Grand Union Canal

Being from New Zealand, where “old” means 100 years or so, it’s exciting to be in a city that dates back to before Christ. Today we decided to check out Roman ruins in the old city area.Continue reading Londinium

Now I know why there is a football team known as the Gunners. The Woolwich Arsenal is where many of the British Empire’s weapons were manufactured, and what started as a factory football team is now one of the English premier league clubs.Continue reading Woolwich Arsenal